Anthony Joshua has insisted that WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is reliant on him to boost his reputation after the failure to make an undisputed fight with Oleksandr Usyk.

Since the turn of the year, the teams of Fury and Usyk – who holds the other three world title belts in the division – have been locked in discussions over a potential showdown.

However, it emerged last week that the two parties could not reach a resolution, Fury and promoter Frank Warren claiming that it was Usyk’s camp who ended negotiations

That development came after Usyk had accepted to take only 30% of the split, with the stumbling block being over a rematch clause with Usyk wanting 70% if he prevailed in the first bout and Fury insisting on 50-50

As it stands, Usyk looks set to fight WBA mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois, while Fury has been left without an obvious next fight despite suggestions that Joe Joyce may face him in the summer.

That would be dependent on Joyce beating Zhilei Zhang on April 15, much like any Joshua versus Fury showdown is dependent on the 2012 Olympic gold medallist beating Jermaine Franklin on Saturday.

Joshua heads into the meeting with the American having lost back-to-back clashes with Usyk, and defeat this weekend would leave retirement as a possibility.

Nevertheless, in the event that he can win at the 02 Arena, Joshua is ready to put himself in line to face Fury, feeling that his British rivals ‘needs him’ in order to boost his reputation with the public

As quoted by BBC Sport, Joshua said: “There’s no better time to get Fury in the ring than now because he needs me to redeem himself from this circus. This letdown.

“He needs me so there’s no better time than for him to call my name out and I’m someone that will take on any challenge

In the past, Joshua’s promoters Matchroom Sport have offered Fury, who did not possess a world title belt at the time, a 40% split, which was turned down.

The pair had been due to fight in 2022, only for Deontay Wilder to successfully enforce a trilogy fight with Fury, while negotiations again took place in the autumn before terms could not be agreed within Fury’s imposed timeframe